Bloody Profession
by Dane of the Red axe
Summary: The Kishin is defeated, but for Shibusen there are still many problems to be dealt with. Especially in regards to the new arrival, and with the Kishins waves of madness are still in places, many new and old enemies. OC,no OC pairings, T for safety, review
1. Chapter 1

The floor creaked beneath Makas feet as she carefully walked through the hall, trying, though inevitably to be as quiet as physically possible as she advanced down the dark hallway, rotting boards threatening to give way under the combined weight of her body and souls scythe form. The entire building smelled of rot and things she would rather not think about in the end, seeming to smother her as dust caused her eyes to moisten slightly. She ignored all of this though, listening and watching for her target as she moved, balanced on the balls of her feet and scythe ready to be used at a moments notice. She had been sent to this particular hell-hole to hunt a kishin egg that had been hunting through the nearby cities and had already killed a number of people. Normally a younger, less veteran student would have been sent, but the target had proved to be able to disguise itself near flawlessly as anyone, physically indistinguishable. The only thing that could identify it was soul perception, and naturally she was the only unassigned meister available. Lucky her, she thought sarcastically, resisting the urge to sneeze. The wood groaned loudly as she stopped, taking the moment to scan the area carefully. There! It was hiding in a room down the hallway, red soul flickering maliciously in her eyes. She made her way to the door, creaking all the way, and abandoned any pretense of subtlety immediately as she shattered the door with sweep of her scythe, splinters and mold flying with a wet crack. The kishin jumped and screamed, a shriek that split the air, spinning in the air to greet her with an evil glare. She shuddered at its visage, a shrunken gray-skinned satire of a child, eyes glowing a murky yellow like sickly flesh. She steeped forward and it hissed, a trapped animal hissing at its predator, trying to push its way through the wall, rotten wood holding strong. Maka pushed the ragged bed out of the way, cautiously approaching the demon, ready to defend against its attack.

But then it grinned, gaze shooting past her to the door, pushing itself from the corner. She instantly readied for it to lunge past her, but it didn't bother, instead its flesh grew and melted and changed, lightening to a pale, terrified white skin, and ragged blond hair, transformed into a terrified little girl, quivering and shrinking from Maka. She was startled but she had seen its form and their was no way she would buy the act now, but it still unnerved her.

"MAKA BEHIND YOU!"

Souls voice shattered her focus, spinning halfway to face the new threat and not loose track of the kishin, but she knew she had seen only herself, soul, and the kishin egg in the building no way tha-

"STOP!"

The voice was one of pure command, echoing from the doorway into the small room, and Maka saw the dim figure in the door for the first time, still unable to form a precise image in the dark. The form was distorted, simultaneously humanoid but not, too dark to be able to clarify the details. Before she could reply, the demon had shoved past her while she was distracted, racing for the figure in the doorway. It was across the room before Maka could stop it, sobbing as it raced to the doorway, breathlessly choking out words.

"T-thank y-you, that c-c-crazy lady was going to kill me!"

she latched onto the new arrivals leg, sobbing into the cloth while throwing a hidden malicious grin at Maka. The figure keeled beside her and she understood why the shape had been so unclear; there was something strapped onto his left arm, like a shield from the medieval times. It was another man, no more than a few years older than her but several inches taller.

"Do not worry child, she will kill hurt you."

the kishins smile grew further at his soothing voice, knowing it had found a way to escape its fate at Makas hands.

"Because I will."

The kishins eyes opened wide a moment before he slipped back and split its skull with the previously unseen sword, its flesh instantly rotting and crumbling away leaving only a red orb floating in the air. The man straightened as he stood to his full height, right hand leaning his sword across his right shoulder casually. The was a click and the soul flew straight to the pommel of his weapon and disappeared, absorbed immediately.

He grunted quietly to himself, nodding and muttering quietly.

"and that's the end of that."

"WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?"

Souls roar instantly grabbed the strangers attention, and tore Maka back to reality. It was still too dark to see his face in detail but it was clear he was watching them now.

"HEY, I asked you a question."

Soul growled, and Maka held her stance ready to fight but not wanting to in the slightest, not out of fear, but there was no point in needless fighting.

"you're from Shibusen?"

It wasn't as much as a question as a confirmation, like he already knew the likely answer they would give. The question confused Maka, because where else would they be from, which made her instantly determined to find out who this person was.

"Of course we are, now answer his question."

He hummed quietly to himself for a moment, before shrugging and turning to leave, tossing one word over his shoulder.

"Dane."

He turned the corner out the doorway and began walking away, boots creaking on the rotten floorboards. Maka was in the hall behind him in a second.

"Wait, if you're not with shibusen, then why are you here and what are you doing. ANSWER ME!"

He turned to face her, irritation contorting his face as the flickering lights shone down. His hair was short, barely reaching his eyes in front, and dark red, almost like blood, and he stood at least three or four inches taller than her, but he was not buff, almost but not quite lanky. His blue eyes were dark, and gave her a quick look before meeting her eyes directly.

"I came here to kill the Kishin egg, which I did, and I will be leaving now."

"NOT UNTIL YOU START MAKING SOME SENSE DAMNIT!"

she was long since done being patient, and tired of being brushed off constantly by this person she had never met, she launched over him as soul screamed at the boy, and landed in a crouch, blocking his way out.

"i have been making plenty of sense, and I will not be explaining myself to you, now let me out."

"NO!"

The hostility in their souls was rising, the new meister and his weapon, she could see, but what surprised her was that their souls were resonating near perfectly, stronger than most she had seen, easily matching her and Souls resonance.

But 'Dane' did something that surprised her. He took a deep breath and attempted to calm himself before speaking again.

"I'm sorry for the trouble, but I can't tell you much, and I need to go and report. Please let me leave."

Normally that might have helped slow the tension, but Maka and Soul had come to catch a kishin egg, which had been taken beneath their noses practically, they were exhausted, the rot of the building was aggravating them, and they were pissed at his previously smart-ass tones and comments. With a shout she launched herself at him, swinging the blunt end of the scythe around his left to try and knock him out. The scythe bounce off the shield that flew into its path, protecting the man perfectly. She swung the blade around to the right and he spun, placing his shield directly in its path, blows that had shattered stone columns slamming into the shield but not penetrating. His blade flashed out from over his shield, and she had to give ground as he pressed the attack, slashing and thrusting at her in a blinding series of attacks, shield always in front. He slipped for a second, and she kicked his knee and he collapsed, rolling as she swung downward, shattering the wooden floor in front of her. He was up again as she charged, stepping aside as she swung downwards again, splitting the floor again. She charged him, scythe spinning evilly, and he swung at her head. She dodged, but he wasn't aiming for her in truth, and the rotten boards gave beneath his blade, and so did the floor beneath her, sending her plummeting into the basement. She slammed into the floor and nearly fell unconscious, forcing herself up, soul transforming back into himself to assist her, dusting the moss off, and she glanced up at the hole they had made. He was gone, she could see his soul racing away, too far to catch and speeding up.

"well, now what?"

Souls voice was doubly irritated now, angry in general at the current situation. Maka sighed and bit her lip slightly, before shrugging mentally and made a mental note to personally report this to Shinigami-sama.

"Back to Shibusen, we need to speak with Shinigami-sama soon,"


	2. Chapter 2

Maka watched bored as Stein prepared to carve up yet another small creature, some kind of bird from the Philippines, the stomach already shaved clear and Stein giving a _wonderfully_ descriptive step by step explanation of the process of dissection. She sighed and put her head down on her hands, Soul passed out on his desk beside her already. It had already been a week since her mission and fight with 'Dane', and she was convinced that something was off when Shinigami-sama just brushed off her concerns, politely, and told her it was not a problem to worry about. But nothing had happened, no more signs and no real missions worth the effort. She had looked across the net for possible explanations, but found nothing, leaving her stuck in class with Steins poor victim. She began to fade, nearly falling asleep when the shout shook the room.

"HEY! BLACK STARS PICKIN A FIGHT WITH SOME NEW KID!"

Gleefully ignoring Steins experiment the students swarmed to the windows, eager to see black star beat some random kid into goo. Maka stayed where she was, smiling at Steins annoyed glare, noting that Tsubaki was still here meaning black star was fighting 'unarmed'. Maka activated her soul perception, searching for the coming fight, finding Black Stars boisterous soul easily, ignoring the crowd to see the pair of souls maybe thirty feet away from black star. One was calm, looking but not quite feeling like it was completely apathetic at the moment, whereas the other was strong willed and proud. She dimly recognized but could not place it in her memory, climbing on a desk to get a better look through the windows over the crowd. Her blood froze, recognizing the tall frame and red hair even from this far up. She leaped down beside Soul and kicked him hard enough to wake him up.

"Soul, get up now!"

He turned his head, angry and annoyed at the wake up call.

"It's time for some pay back."

Today, Dane decided, could have been much better than it had. Narrowly dodging a flurry of punches, he ducked a kick and drove back his blue haired attacker with a series of slashes from his weapon, Germanicus. Just getting to Shibusen had been a lengthy affair, with setback after setback, and then he had finally gotten to speak with the Shinigami after nearly an hours wait. Who then thinks its a wonderful idea for the two of them to stay at Shibusen while we're here. And then requests that we attend a few classes as well, and Dane was forced to give under Shinigamis and Germanicus insistence. Then they left and picked up their gear and return to find a narcissistic blue haired 'assassin' waiting for them. Who spends ten minutes proclaiming himself to be stronger than god, and then challenged Dane to a dual. Which is apparently an everyday thing here. He had called himself Star or something, Dane remembered, having lost interest after the first tirade. Honestly, whats with these people and their names? Star, really? Why not Ego-bastard, it would be so much more appropriate. He launched himself to the left as Star launched forward, and Dane had to admit, while his attacks were brutal and almost uncontrolled, they were lightning and very powerful. The reminder was driven home as he slashed again, bruised arm protesting mightily. Star lunged forward again, but this time Dane ducked and slashed as Star flew past, prepared for an impact that did not happen. The cut was shallow across his back, but it stung nonetheless, Star tumbling before regaining his feet. And his breath. And restarted his tirade.

"YOU DARE HURT THE ONE WHO WOULD SURPASS GOD!"

Does he ever stop yelling, honestly its got to be murder on his vocal cords, but apparentl-

"BEHIND!"

Danes focus on Star almost cost him his life as the Scythe came flying for his neck, only Germanicuss warning saving his life.

He leaped away as the blade carved the air were he had stood a second ago. He landed several yards away, crouching ready to dodge again, but his new attacker- that girl from a week ago!- was arguing with Blue hair. He had barely dodged it, but as he moved his left arm he realized that he hadn't dodged completely as the blood streamed down his arm. Both his new opponents turned on him, and he realized he was not getting any help, and facing two of Shibusens strongest. Three actually. He didn't have his shield either, he remembered. He felt the grim smile cross his face, unable to stop it. _Well this'll be interesting._

Crona had been walking through the hall when she heard the commotion, barely dodging the horde of people flood through the hall, running for the front courtyard. She caught the words "black star", "Maka" and more ominously, "fighting and bleeding".

"if Makas hurt I'm not sure I will be able to handle that well."

"So get moving, STUPID, gupi!"

At Ragnaroks "suggestion" (command) she followed the crowd, emerging from the front doors and faced with a massive crowd, alternating between shouting and booing, cheering and cursing, at times in the same breath. She climbed on one of the ledges to see over the crowd, the ledge already hosting several students with the same idea. She saw black star and Maka fighting, but not each other, but rather a third person she didn't recognize, with red hair. He was dodging and weaving acrobatically, dodging a fist here, deflecting a slash with his blade in mid jump, but he was still getting the worst of the fight, bruised and bleeding in multiple places. He wasn't down yet though, catching black star with a basket hilt enclosed fist that sent him flying past Stein in his rolling chair, grinning maniacally as he watched. Black star would be back in seconds, but it was valuable breathing room. Maka came swinging low for his legs, and he jumped, moving out of her sight and earning a shocked gasp from the crowd watching. He was balanced on the blade of the scythe, in the air behind her. Noticing the weight difference or warned by Soul Maka turned, dodging left to avoid the slash. Its sliced down her upper arm, causing it to bleed profusely but not fatal, or even critical, but it sent her stumbling back, her attacker flipping backwards. Crona had jumped before she had thought, landing before Maka and Between her and the stranger, Ragnarok forming in her hand.

"Scream resonance."

The opponents had a chance for his eyes to realize his new opponent a split second before Ragnarok attacked, ear splitting shriek slicing the air.

He was down instantly, sword clattering away and screaming, unable to be heard over the shriek, collapsing the ground, tears flowing from his eyes and blood from his ears, ears clamped down in a doomed attempt to mute the noise.

Crona felt a doubt than, she didn't know if this was an enemy for sure, not really, it could just be a over zealous sparring match right? And he was piratically in the fetal position, should she stop? But he hurt Maka so he had to be punished, Right? _I don't know what to do_, she thought. There was a flash of light and then a man was standing where the sword had fallen. But it was nothing she expected to see, he couldn't be under forty or fifty, strong frame on a six-two height, with short gray-white hair cut like Caesar of Rome from the history books. With a blade for his fore arm, and murder in his eyes.


End file.
